Motion SuperSpeedster Camaro - Building The Motion Super Speedster

How Did Motion Top Its Mind Blowing Super Coupe? How About With A Radical 700-Horsepower Super Speedster?

The Motion SuperSpeedster is beginning to take on its final form. The Be-Cool aluminum radiator is fitted in the core support and the front end has been installed. The engine compartment is super sanitary.

This is no ragtop. It's not what you'd call a Pro Street Camaro. It's a Motion SuperSpeedster, and it's unlike any Camaro ever built.

By now, most Chevy fans are aware of the return of the Motion brand. From 1967-1974, Motion Performance and its Baldwin-Motion Camaros were some of the wildest and most powerful musclecars on the street. The man behind Motion Performance was Joel Rosen, and two years ago he teamed up Joel Ehrenpreis, Larry Jaworske and Marty Schorr to re-launch Motion. Their goal was to build modern interpretations of the great Motion Camaros with state of the art suspensions, brakes, luxury and neck snapping big-block power that recalls Rosen's thunderous Motion Camaros of the 1960s.

Motion woke up the performance world when it debuted the incredible SuperCoupe at the 2005 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) convention in Las Vegas. Long, wide and mean, the SuperSpeedster, designed by Kris Horton and hand crafted by Phil Somers, literally stole the Vegas show. In recognition of its superb design and engineering, the SuperCoupe won the prestigious "Best GM Design Award" presented by General Motors' Kip Wasenko, who is Director Of Design for Special Vehicles.

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This is how the SuperSpeedster started-a 1969 Camaro convertible with a relatively solid body. All that was needed was the shell. Virtually nothing else from a stock Camaro would be used in the SuperSpeedster.

For the 2006 SEMA convention, Motion chose to return with another in its Super series. This time they chose a radical speedster that was designed by Motion's CEO Larry Jaworske and based on the SuperCoupe. But, as Jaworske observed, "The SuperSpeedster is a step up from the SuperCoupe in design, engineering and execution."

For Rosen, the SuperSpeedster is a natural progression in Motion's return to the performance car market. "Building an extreme, high-horsepower open Camaro has been my dream since re-launching the Baldwin-Motion and Motion brands," Rosen said. "The SuperSpeedster is all that and more."

The concept of a speedster instead of a standard convertible is just the kind of Camaro that Motion likes to build. While its Phase III Motion Camaros are available in either coupe or standard convertible configurations, the Super Series autos are wild custom interpretations of the classic 1969 Camaro. To give you an idea of how wild the Super Series Motion cars are, consider this: After the SEMA convention, the SuperCoupe went to the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale and sold for $450,000. The SuperSpeedster was sold before it was built to Steve White of Sarasota, Florida.

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Phil prefers a backbone chassis for Motion's Super series that ties the frame and body together. Cross members connect the body to the frame and provide additional rigidity.

The SuperSpeedster exceeds the parameters of most custom cars built today, but in many ways it is a throwback to the kind of coachwork done by the old masters like George Barris and Gene Winfield. Phil Somers is a student of these early craftsmen, and as he admits, "I'm old school." He sees a custom as a rolling work of automotive art, and his interpretation of Jaworske's design is like nothing you'll see anywhere else. And unlike many custom builders, Motion delivers its cars on time.

The SuperSpeedster begins as a genuine 1969 Camaro and is totally re-engineered. The front sub frame is pitched and the unit body is stripped of floors, quarters and trunk. A specially designed 2x3-inch square tube steel chassis is constructed with a spine/backbone that runs the length of the center console and ties the body to the frame. This platform is so rigid that if you were to jack up one corner of the car, the entire side would raise up. The engine is setback 13 inches from stock. Since the SuperSpeedster is a two-seater, the engine placement allowed Phil to move the instrument panel rearward.

The front and rear suspensions are independent, with heavy duty cast aluminum short upper and long lower control arms, Penske racing coilover shocks and massive stabilizer bars. The steering is updated to power assisted rack and pinion with variable ratio. The rear is narrowed eight inches and boasts a Dana 44-4 Hydra-Lok speed-sensing limited-slip differential.

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Motion SuperSpeedster Camaro - Building The Motion Super Speedster

The Motion SuperSpeedster is beginning to take on its final form. The Be-Cool aluminum radiator is fitted in the core support and the front end has been installed. The engine compartment is super sanitary.

This is how the SuperSpeedster started-a 1969 Camaro convertible with a relatively solid body. All that was needed was the shell. Virtually nothing else from a stock Camaro would be used in the SuperSpeedster.

Phil prefers a backbone chassis for Motion's Super series that ties the frame and body together. Cross members connect the body to the frame and provide additional rigidity.

Since there's virtually no bright work on the flanks, Phil extended the wind split that whips over the wheel opening and into the door and widened it 1/2-inch.

At this point, the SuperSpeedster unique shape is emerging. The tubs are in place, the fenders and quarters are flared and the front end fitted. Even at this point, Phil was still in the process of changing the SuperSpeedster's rear deck design.

The SuperSpeedster is tailored not only to the customer's list of options and accessories; it's also ergonomically crafted to his physical specifications. Motion President Joel Ehrenpreis and Phil worked with Steve White, who purchased the SuperSpeedster to determine where Steve wanted the shifter, steering wheel placement and pedal locations. These measurements will be factored into the SuperSpeedster's final interior dimensions.

The left rear quarter has been cut away, the mounting locations for the IRS have been determined and the suspension components hung for final measurements

Phil integrated some of his own ideas into the design of the SuperSpeedster. One was to widen the front fenders so they are as wide as the rear quarters to give the body more front to rear symmetry.

The door handles and locks were shaved and a huge duct cut into the SuperSpeedster's quarter panel for brake cooling. This duct is similar to what appeared on the SuperCoupe.

The rear tubs are roughed in and tack welded for placement. When finished, the tubs measure 24 inches from wheel lip to inboard end.

This view shows the instrument panel cross brace that also ties the cowl to the frame. The floor pans are now roughed in.

With the exterior and interior sheet metal work now completed, the SuperSpeedster goes into the paint shop for final bodywork. From there it gets a base coat of primer and hours of hand sanding, followed by more priming and sanding until the body is glass-smooth.

The framing for the headrests and the headrest supports are installed. Another of Phil's creations is this addition to the console that will be part of the audio system.

Phil designed the interior to resemble the classic 1963 Sting Ray cockpit. The position of the pedals and placement of the shifter are now set, predicated on the driver placement measurements previously made.

It can't be a speedster without a solid tonneau cover. This fiberglass cover was hand formed and laid by Phil and his crew.

Because the SuperSpeedster is going to be equipped with a Motion 540 big-block with Kinsler Cross Ram injection, the Stinger hood scoop had to raised and lengthened.

A switch in the instrument panel activates the power tonneau cover. The front lifts first, then arches over the roll bars and then slides back down into place. The rear Baer/Motion brakes are 14-inches with vented and cross-drilled rotors.

With the engine compartment painted and cherried, it's time to slip the Motion 540 engine hooked to the Tremec five-speed into the cradle. The crew is careful not to nick the paint as the assembly slips into place.

The rear of the SuperSpeedster with its flared fenders is ten inches wider than the stock Camaro. The charcoal Motion center stripe runs the length of the car, including the interior.

The awesome Kinsler Cross Ram electronic fuel injection dominates the engine compartment. Up front is a Billet Specialties Tru Trak serpentine belt and pulley arrangement. Most of the plumbing for the brakes, A/C and other accessories will be hidden behind the fender wells.

The Motion independent rear suspension with a Dana 44-4 Hydra-Lok speed sensing limited-slip differential is the same as used in the SuperCoupe. It's more than capable of handling the brutal torque of the powerful 540.

Back in the paint shop, the body goes on the rotisserie for painting. The Motion Yellow paint lies on as a base coat with four layers of clear. Each layer of clear is hand rubbed before the next coat is applied.